Snowboarding

[alexzarris]

Has anyone ever snowboarded down San Jacinto? I've never hiked the mt, however 3 years ago I tool the tram up with my wife and thought to myself, "What a perfect mt. to hike up and snowboard down." Anyway, any recommendations is greatly appreciated. Which is the better winter trail, from the tram, from Idlewild, or from the bottom? How about camping spots? Our plan was to take the tram, hike to the top, camp, then snowboard down.

[phydeux]

Camping at the top is prohibited; you'd have to camp down below (Round Valley or Tamarak Valley), then hike up in the early AM for a downhill run (or two). Snowboarding down the east side (towards the Tram) is a short 1200 ft run, and its only do-able in years when there's lots of snow (lots of shrubbery on that side that you'll get tangled in). Its also So Cal backcountry snow - it gets crusty hard & icy overnight, then melts to slush pretty quickly in the daytime sun. Overall, the area between the tram and summit is better suited for snowshoeing or cross country skiing.

If you were thinking about snowboarding the north side down Snow Creek (what you see from I-10) - you better be an expert+ snowboarder and make sure your life insurance premiums are up-to-date. Its a steep and challenging ice climb and trying to snowboard it would be almost suicidal.

[asabat]

Lots of ski and snowboard terrain on San Gorgonio.
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